this is bbc news. i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at 103m: snow and ice affect travel across the uk. stansted airport closes its runway. motorists are warned of dangerous conditions because of snow and ice. and 1a,000 properties are without electricity in the midlands, south west england and parts of wales. a small number of critically ill syrian children are allowed to leave a rebel—held area of damascus. the company that ran grenfell tower gives up control of thousands of other properties, saying it can't guarantee tenants the service they expect. also in the next hour — prince harry guest edits radio 4's today programme. ina wide in a wide ranging interview with barack obama, the former us president warned that irresponsible use of social media is distorting the public‘s understanding of complex issues. tesco investigates after customers complained that their christmas turkey was "rotten" or had "gone off". coming up, we look back at some of the biggest stories and original journalism our programme has covered in the last 12 months. that's in half an hour on bbc news

good morning and welcome to bbc news. high winds and snow have caused disruption for much of england and wales. 14,000 properties were left without power in the midlands, the south west and parts of wales, after power lines were brought down overnight. birmingham airport closed for a time to allow for slush and snow to be cleared from the runway, and stansted airport also says a runway is temporarily closed. more on that in a moment. just to show you some of the pictures that you've been sending. this one from rugby. several centimetres of snow covering a park in the city centre there. this wintry scene is in four marks in east hamshire, where snow is still falling heavily. our news correspondent,

joe inwood, is here. first of all, that breaking news in sta nsted in first of all, that breaking news in stansted in the last half hour. yeah, they've just told stansted in the last half hour. yeah, they'vejust told us stansted in the last half hour. yeah, they've just told us that it's been, the runway there is now closed. it was snowing heavily since 8am. they say all flights in and all flights out have been suspended. in i flights flights out have been suspended. in iflights coming in, that were already in the air, have been diverted to other airports. luckily they say the early flurry of flights did get away before the runway was closed. the mainlior disruption was avoided. —— major disruption was avoid. anyone hoping to fly out of sta nsted or meet avoid. anyone hoping to fly out of stansted or meet a loved one coming in should check with the airline. at the moment there is going to be no movement at the runway. give us a wider picture, because the disruption across the south is fairly widespread. yeah, absolutely it was roads that were affected most this morning. the most severe impact was probably on the mi byjunction i9, was probably on the mi byjunction 19, where a lorryjack was probably on the mi byjunction

19, where a lorry jack knifed because of the ice and snowy conditions. that has been cleared but diesel is still on the carriageway. so delays are continuing there. also nearby on the a14, there were multiple collisions throughout the morning, a really, really serious scene. there the road is completely closed. the highways agency say all of their vehicles are on the scene. they're trying to get it open. for now, they're advising people to avoid the a14. down in cornwall, on the a30, there was a collision with an ambulance and another car. luckily nobody was injured further in that. that caused delays. there have been power cuts. more than 100 incidents across the south—west of the country, western power. more than 10,000 homes without power. but it's notjust snow and ice. there's also been flood warnings because of the heavy rain we've had. 15 flood warnings and more than 100 flood alerts. 0k, joe, thank you very much.

show us the weather in your area, tweet us your pictures@bbc simon mccoy is the twitter account. we will show those out through the morning. you're watching bbc news. aid workers have started to evacuate critically—ill patients from a rebel—held suburb near the syrian capital, damascus. it comes after weeks of negotiations between the united nations and syria's president, bashar al—assad, to allow children with cancer to be transferred from eastern ghouta into damascus for treatment. virginia langeberg reports. these photos posted on twitter by the syrian red crescent, an international committee of the red cross. a sign of hope forjust a few. four patients with critical medical conditions will now receive treatment in a hospital in damascus. in the rebel held suburb of eastern ghouta, the most vulnerable have little help. sick and malnourished and trapped

under siege since 2013. on christmas day, the bbc aired a story of baby karim, two—month—old who lost an eye and suffered severe injuries in a suspected government attack. un efforts to arrange medical evacuations from ghouta have until now fallen on deaf ears. last month, nine people who needed urgent medical care died after a request to get them out were denied. now the attention turns to those who can still be saved including seven children curable cancer, but without the medicine to treat them. if we can save these seven children maybe we may also be able to get out the other 125 children in ghouta who are in desperate need of sophisticated medical support which they cannot get in ghouta. the syrian red crescent says last night's evacuations took a long time to negotiate.

the first of 29 critical cases approved by syrian authorities. the remainder will be evacuated to damascus over the coming days. it may seem just a drop in the ocean in the plight of so many, but it's perhaps a small change in what has been an unforgiving ordeal for the people of eastern ghouta. the company that ran grenfell tower is handing back control of its other properties to the local council, saying it can no longer give tenants the service they expect. the kensington and chelsea tenant management organisation has responsibility for 9,000 properties, as andy moore reports. grenfell tower is owned by the local council, but it was run by one of the largest tenant management organisations in the country. this body manages thousands of properties in the area. it was this management organisation that made the now controversial

decision to refurbish grenfell tower in cladding suspected of fuelling the fire. both it and the local council are now under investigation by the police over possible corporate manslaughter charges. the organisation has sent out a letter saying it would be in the best interests of all residents that the services which the tenant management organisation currently provides are handed back to the council. the handover, which will start at the end of next month means the royal borough of kensington & chelsea will take over repairs and day—to—day running. but a resident on the grenfell recovery scrutiny committee says the council isn't up to the job of running a large housing stock, when he claims it has failed to deal effectively with the aftermath of the fire. there's also a fear the tenant management organisation could escape criminal responsibility if it ceases to be a functioning company. the organisation said that wouldn't happen. the royal borough of kensington &

chelsea said it saw this as a temporary measure and residents would ultimately decide how they wanted their homes managed. for the survivors of grenfell, who recently attended a memorial at st paul's cathedral, this comes as a further complication —— after the rejection a special panel to work with the public inquiry and reported delays in special christmas payments. workers could see another year without a pay rise, that's according to the resolution foundation think—tank, which looks at living standards in the uk. it said a year—on—year rise in real pay wouldn't be noticeable until december next year. the government says it is cutting taxes for millions and raising pay through the national living wage. prince harry has been guest editing radio 4's today programme. it featured an interview with the former us president, barak 0bama. during the interview, 0bama issued a warning about the use of social media, saying it can lead to people being cocooned in entirely different realities. how do we harness this technology in

hay way that allows a multiple voices, diversity of views, but doesn't lead to the vulcanisation of oui’ doesn't lead to the vulcanisation of our society but rather continues to promote ways of finding common ground. i'm not sure government can legislate that, but what i do believe is that all of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet. 0ne which we can recreate a common space on the internet. one of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. they can be just cocooned in information that reinforces their current bias. prince harry has told the bbc that his fiancee meghan markle had a "fantastic" time with the queen and his family over christmas. the prince and ms markle spent christmas with the royal family at sandringham in norfolk.

the pair will marry in 2018, but when asked whether the couple would invite barack 0bama to the wedding, prince harry remained tight lipped. we haven't put the invites or the guest list together yet, so who knows whether he's going to be invited or not. wouldn't want to ruin that surprise. that must be a major headache? i think once you get married you go through that process. but for me, today, post christmas, looking forward to new year, i just hope that everybody out there has had a chance tojust think about the things that really matter and the difference that every single one of us can make. it's not necessarily your decision either. of course, 100%. so christmas. it was your future wife's first christmas with the in—laws. how was it? it was fantastic. she really enjoyed. it the family loved having her there. yeah, there's always that family

part of christmas is that work element as well. i think together we had an amazing time, great fun staying with my brother and sister—in—law. and running around with the kids. christmas was fantastic. as i said, we're really looking forward to new year and looking forward to 2018 because, you know, i'm determined to make sure that myself and the young generation and everybody else the pendulum is going to swing and 2018 is going to be a fantastic year. we all need to play our part. tesco has apologised after people complained turkies they bought from them for christmas lunch were rotten 01’ them for christmas lunch were rotten or had gone off. the superintendent market's social media feeds featured angry customers complaining their meals were ruined. the supermarket chain has apologised and will investigate. lee ashforth joins chain has apologised and will investigate. lee ashforthjoins me 110w investigate. lee ashforthjoins me now via webcam now. first of all,

when did you buy this bird? we got it on the 23rd from tesco. 0bviously put it in the fridge as you do. then obviously, christmas eve we checked and everything was fine. it was ready to go for christmas day. then when we got it out of the fridge on christmas day morning, you know, the smell was horrendous. we realised that the turkey was off. smell was horrendous. we realised that the turkey was offlj smell was horrendous. we realised that the turkey was off. i need to give a bit of background here. you had a baby last week, didn't you? you and your wife? congratulations for that, first of all. it meant that obviously you had other guests for what was going to be a very big christmas. yeah. we had my parents came overfrom christmas. yeah. we had my parents came over from spain. christmas. yeah. we had my parents came overfrom spain. so they christmas. yeah. we had my parents came over from spain. so they were doing all the christmas day for us. we had our hands full with the little girl and obviously we've got a son at five and a 17—year—old as well. the house was really busy. my pa rents were well. the house was really busy. my parents were doing everything for us. parents were doing everything for us. 0bviously, they were very upset that had happened, with them being over from that had happened, with them being overfrom spain. that had happened, with them being over from spain. you opened the turkey, the wrapping came off and

you were in no doubt there was a problem? yeah, i mean as soon as we took the wrapping off, the smell was horrendous. when knew straight away it was off. we put it outside straight away. we had to open a few windows and things. we had to rush about, driving round petrol stations and off licenses that were open trying to get some food for christmas dinner. you didn't even try and put it in the oven? 0h, christmas dinner. you didn't even try and put it in the oven? oh, no. there was no way at all. the smell of it was, you know, enough to make us, well i certainly was gaping. i don't —— gipping. i don't have the strongest stomach. it was definitely off. it wasn't edible. there is a happy ending to this in that you've got a neighbour who rescued your christmas. yeah, fortunately, we live on a new housing estate. a guy called matthew helped us out. he had something that we could use. we managed to get something on the table for christmas dinner. he saved

us table for christmas dinner. he saved us massively. i think your mother actually went to the store to complain didn't she? yeah, my mother and father went yesterday. i was out at football and you know, they went down to the tesco store where they bought it, took the turkey back in several carrier bags and took it to customer services who ran through to the manager, asked the manager to come down. he refused to come down. but he did say give them their money back. at this point, my mum got very upset, was emotional and crying. at that point, another member of staff we re that point, another member of staff were walking past the. spoke to —— past. they spoke to her and asked what the problem was. she told them. she called another manager across who wasn't particularly helpful. but fortu nately, who wasn't particularly helpful. but fortunately, they ended up giving us a £30 voucher. i don't think that's anywhere near enough. my father is writing to them as we speak. he will complain further. if somebody from tesco is watching now, what's the message? i just

tesco is watching now, what's the message? ijust think tesco is watching now, what's the message? i just think the customer service and the way they've dealt with it is disgusting really. i'm quite a placid person and when it happened, it's christmas day, let's get on with it. i said it would be an isolated incident. but it's national news and a lot of people are in the same situation, tesco have got to be seen to be dealing with. it they're 0k taking your money off you, but when it's something on a scale of this, let's be honest, as a nation christmas day is massive to us. i think the fact that it takes a 65—year—old woman to stand there crying is disgusting. will it be a tesco turkey in 2018? it certainly won't. i won't be buying any meat from there again. neither will my family. it's bad publicity for them. i'd be amazed if anybody takes the risk next year. lee, good of you tojoin us. try to enjoy the rest of the christmas period. thank you very much. congratulations again on the new baby. (thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news:

motorists are warned of dangerous conditions because of snow and ice. and 14,000 properties are without electricity in the midlands, south west england and parts of wales. a small number of critically ill syrian children are allowed to leave a rebel held area of damascus. the company that ran grenfell tower gives up control of thousands of other properties, saying it can't guarantee tenants the service they expect. surprising news from the world of sport. england had a good day! former england captain alastair cook made his first ashes century for almost seven years, as they finished on top after day two of the fourth test. they closed on 192—4, after stuart broad had helped spark an australia collapse — he took fourfor 51, with the hosts all out for 327. patrick gearey was watching. this wasn't the day we were

expecting. we thought we would come here to see steve smith the australian captain make a huge score ona australian captain make a huge score on a hot day. after all he had not been on this ground for three years. imagine everyone's surprise when smith played onto his stumps after half an hour, giving tom curran his first test wicket. mitchell marsh went next in exactly the same way to chris woakes. stuart broad jimmy anderson, the most successful bowling partnership of all time in england, took charge. australia were all out, losing the last seven wickets for 83 runs. in reply england lost a batter. the evening session was all about alastair cook, scoring his first 50 of the series.

he was then dropped by steve smith on 66 and ended with his last over of the day, finishing alongside the captainjoe of the day, finishing alongside the captain joe root. of the day, finishing alongside the captainjoe root. it may be too little, too late for the ashes, but england had their best day of the series so far. they are still fighting. we created a lot of pressure yesterday, and we were rewarded with wickets today. we were very patient yesterday and when it reversed a little things could have got slightly different for us, and then today we got lucky with a couple of wickets. australia were probably disappointed with them, but we we re probably disappointed with them, but we were delighted with them. it has beena we were delighted with them. it has been a pretty tough couple of weeks. but it makes playing and taking wickets very rewarding. tottenham and england striker harry kane says he can get even better, after breaking the record for premier league goals scored in a season. he passed alan shearer‘s 22—year—old

mark with yet another hat—trick in tottenham's 5—2 win over southampton, taking his tally to 39. with manchester city way ahead, spurs are involved in the battle for second place. and manchester united dropped points again yesterday. they were 2—0 down at home to burnley, after goals from ashley barnes and steven defour — butjesse lingard scored twice, with the equaliser coming in injury time, to salvage a draw. united are 12 points behind manchester city, who play newcastle this evening — and managerjose mourinho says the £300 million he's spent on his squad so far is "not enough". we are in the second year of trying to rebuild a football team but, you know, is not one of the best teams in the world. so when you speak about responsibilities to win the

premier league, totland does not have that responsibility because they are not a club with the same history with us, arsenal does not have a responsibility, manchester city, the by fullbacks but the price of strikers. you have spent a lot of money. 0k, it is not enough. it is not enough. the most controversial result of the day came on the south coast, where bournemouth drew 3—3 with west ham. the visitors thought they'd won it with two marko arnautovic goals in the last 10 minutes but in injury time, callum wilson diverted nathan ake's header into the net. the goal was initally disallowed for offiside but after a lengthy discussion between the referee and his assistant, it was given. it could be close, the offside. it could be that whether our player's fit is in the ground, but the linesman gives it is an offside

goal. it is a bonus player who puts it in the net with the top of his arm, so it should have been stopped for that. for them to overrule both decisions, to get both decisions wrong, i do not see that at all. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. i'll have more for you in the next hour. letters get more in the news that aid workers have tried to get critically ill children out of damascus. we have a representative from the red cross, joining alive from the red cross, joining alive from geneva. how many have been brought out so far? i'm afraid at this point of time, the information

i have from my colleagues concerns the general state of the operation, which is the news we received last night. i do not have right now the updated information as of today about the number of people or their identities or any details of the operation. at this point of time, what is important is that it continues and everybody is safe and people who are in critically ill condition can be evacuated. talking about children here, many who have very serious conditions. as i said, it is difficult for me to comment at the moment about the individual cases because. cases what the moment about the individual cases what we have seen is that the situation has been very difficult for people with little access to food and medical care. therefore it is important that the current operation continues and the syrian red crescent can carry on with it in

the coming days. you know better than anyone, over the past six years in syria, it is the syrians and youngsters who have been most severely affected by the civil war. for us, asa severely affected by the civil war. for us, as a humanitarian operation, the plight of civilians is of utmost importance, and we have seen the consequences of the conflict on syria on civilians for many years now, and there are people who continue to be in need further assistance and continued to be in need of shelter, food, the basic items across the country. there is evidence that the civilians have been used in this conflict in a very cynical way. well, it is been used in this conflict in a very cynicalway. well, it is not been used in this conflict in a very cynical way. well, it is not up to me to comment on the evidence, it is up me to comment on the evidence, it is up to the courts to decide. what is important is to put civilians first

and make sure that the basic provisions of international humanitarian law are in place, aiming to protect civilians from harm. can you give us a sense of what conditions are like? what are people saying to you? what conditions are like? what are people saying to you ?|j what conditions are like? what are people saying to you? i have not beenin people saying to you? i have not been in touch with my colleagues, who have been part of this operation, therefore i cannot really give you any update now. some time ago we said that the situation has reached critical point, and people we re reached critical point, and people were in desperate need for humanitarian aid. thank you very much forjoining us today. because get more about the snow and high winds. sta nsted because get more about the snow and high winds. stansted airport has just reopened after snow conditions caused the runway to close down earlier. dozens of flights have been

delayed since the closure which began at eight this morning. some we re began at eight this morning. some were diverted to other airports, the ru nway were diverted to other airports, the runway is now open, and stansted should say that delays should continue throughout the day. anyone travelling should check with their airlines for more information. let us airlines for more information. let us just catch up with phil avery. first thing was a very dramatic picture, but only over a relatively small band of the country. very much so. small band of the country. very much so. i'm sure people across the north of scotla nd so. i'm sure people across the north of scotland and ireland are wondering what is the problem. here are some photographs just in from worcs. it looks quite nice if you're not going out to work. healers hampshire, not known for snow. it is really tricky if you have got to move around. just to balance things

out, taking things to the northern end of scotland, this is to the south of inverness. that is the amount of snowfall that has fallen into many areas and through the heart of wales and midlands. just picking up the story from this morning to where we are at the moment, there has been a drift of rain and snow associated with low pressure, and they have a colleague trying to get in from rugby at the moment on the railway lines, having a terrible time of it. as we get on the through the day, stands it is improving, and as things become a good deal more patchy, the ground will be colder, the snow has had a chance to light, and there was more profit. it is a marginal thing as to whether we have rain or snow. a lot of people saying it is wet and a bit of people saying it is wet and a bit of flooding. a lot of flood warnings and alerts. by the middle of the afternoon it is east anglia and the

south east seeing the last of it. 0therwise south east seeing the last of it. otherwise it is a nice day. more snow will come into the north of scotla nd snow will come into the north of scotland across the high ground in northern ireland and wales, but died the spine of the country, there is a lot of fine weather. —— down the spine of the country. it has been very windy, in some exposed locations we have seen gusts of 70 mph. similar sort of numbers widely across the eastern coastal fringes as well. it has been very unpleasant. it is the 27th of december. it is the middle of winter. and yet, i know we forecast this correctly in the previous 48 hours, and yet we still do not seem to be able to deal with this weather terribly well. this is two grumpy

old men talking now! one. i heard a report on the bbc who said it was tricky last night because there was a lot of rain coming down, then the atmosphere cooled off, so if you put down salt to early, it gets washed away, and just as you needed it. it was difficult to call whether this would be snow or rain. it is tough for the critters to be out there to get the right amount in the right place. —— critters macro. you will not get one gritter. it is down your driveway and your small roads that is the problem. the main roads get the prioritisation, and rightly so. is there any more, or will you we

look at the forecast? gau i've said more than enough about this! this is beginning to peter out. stanzas is coming back to life. there were issues earlier in bristol airport. ifi issues earlier in bristol airport. if i take you through the next couple of days, because of all this moisture, there will be major problems with ice. are people going back to work, so bear that in mind. at as you see, it is december. a bit of common sense. i at as you see, it is december. a bit of common sense. i was at as you see, it is december. a bit of common sense. i was listening! it will be wintry across the high ground, and the north of scotland. 0nce ground, and the north of scotland. once we get out of thursday, the high pressure goes, and we bring in

milder air, with a little area of low pressure. a lot of cloud around, some rain, and it will be mild. these are the figures. again, a contrast, but it is december in the uk, we are a long way north, and because of where we are, we get the odd bout of real wintry miss. —— real wintry weather. thank you. now, victoria derbyshire takes a look back at the interviews and films that featured on her programme, beginning with women talking frankly about intimate health issues. hello and welcome to our programme. over the next half an hour, we'll bring you some